Bezos' departure as CEO was announced Tuesday during an earnings call, and it was revealed AWS CEO Andy Jassy would take over as the main man of the e-comm behemoth sometime in the third quarter of 2021.

As for why he's stepping down ... Bezos wrote a letter to employees, saying running Amazon at large is exhausting and all-encompassing -- and he's got other projects he wants to go all-in on. He'll still have a hand on the wheel though, as executive chair of Amazon's board going forward.

JB added in his letter, "As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have."

For reference, the Day 1 Fund is JB's homelessness project; the Earth Fund is his climate change initiative and Blue Origin is his aerospace company. So yeah, Dude's still got a lot on his plate.

As for how this will affect the company's projected growth, the numbers seem to show stakeholders have faith. Amazon shares were trading higher in after-hours Tuesday. That shows how solid Amazon is -- Bezos has been in the captain's chair since '94.

Unclear if Jeff's stock options with the company will be affected -- which could change his wealthiest man on the planet status. He and Elon Musk have been swapping the 1 and 2 spots all year.